It has been known for some time that there are points in the human body in which the electric conductivity of the skin is higher than in the surrounding area, as a result of some actual or potential pathological phenomena. It has also been found that these points correspond each to a particular part of the body. All the points corresponding to the same part are arranged in lines that have been called “meridians”. Thus, a lung meridian appears in lung disease, a stomach meridian in stomach disease, and so on. These facts are discussed, e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,827. Further, they form the object of publications of the Japanese Society of Ryodoraku Medicine (JSRM), the Japan Acupuncture Moxibustion and Ryodoraku Medical Society (JAMR), and others. Explanations for the above phenomena have been offered, but this invention is independent of such explanations and is only based on the existence of the phenomenon.
The points of the body in which the electrical resistance is measured on the skin have been called BAPs (biologically active points). It has been found that for each meridian, there is one BAP that is representative of that meridian, and which provides an average value for said meridian. A list of the BAPs, with the symbols by which they will be referred to hereafter and their locations is shown in FIG. 1. Explanation with respect to each BAP symbol is given in the following table:
BAPEXPLANATIONP9The origin point of Lung Meridian Located on the wrist joint(the side of the palm) in the hollow near the thumb.MC7The origin point of Heart Governor Meridian. Located in themiddle of the wrist joint (the side of the palm).C7The origin point of Heart Meridian. Located on the wrist joint (theside of the palm) in the hollow of the fifth finger.IG4The origin point of Small Intestine Meridian. Located on the sideof the hand, near the fifth finger in the hollow near the wrist.TR4Triple Heater Meridian origin point Located in the middle of thewrist joint (back of the hand) between the third and the fourthfinger tendons.GI5Large Intestine Meridian origin point. Located on the border of thehollow (the one separating the thumb and the index finger) and theside of the wrist.RP3Spleen-Pancreas Meridian origin point. Located on the inner sideof the foot in the hollow behind the first toe's mound.F3Liver Meridian origin point. Located on the upper side of the foot,in the narrowest part between the first and second toe's tendons.R3Kidney Meridian origin point. Located in the middle between theinner part of the ankle-bone and the achilles tendon.V65Bladder Meridian origin point. Located on the outer side of thefoot, in the hollow behind the fifth's toe's mound.VB40Gall Bladder Meridian origin point. Located near the front lowerpart of the ankle-bone.E42Stomach Meridian origin point. Located on the highest point of theupper part of the foot, between the second and third toe's tendons,where a dorsabis pedis is.
In addition to these average points, there is also an announcement point for each meridian that is representative of a particular organ, or organ system. The announcement points are points on the body surface which develop sensitivity and/or soreness when the corresponding organs are affected and in which generally occur skin temperature changes. In conventional medicine zones, called Zakharin-Ged reflected sensitivity zones, are known and widely used in diagnostics. The announcement points generally coincide with the reflected sensitivity zones.
Similarly, there are other points, known as sympathetic points, which are representative of the stimulation state of particular segments of the sympathetic nervous system. If the ratio of the electroskin reistance of an announcement point to that of the corresponding sympathetic-point (expressed in kΩm) is less than 0.75, it may signal an acute process in an organ within the segment being examined. If the ratio is higher than 1.25, a chronic affection may be present in a representative organ. If kΩm are converted into current intensity exponents A, the ratio will change in the following way: If the ratio of the intensity of current of an announcement point to the intensity of current of the corresponding sympathetic-point exceeds 1.25, the process in the representative organ is acute, and vice versa.
Finally, there are also “energy reference point”. These are points in which electrical resistance of the skin is very stable and only changes in cases of serious disease. In principle, there are six such points, which have been designated by the symbols T1, T14, T28, J1, J18, J24 (see Macheret, E. L., “Reference of the Reflexotherapy”, Moskva, 1982; Voll, R., “Topographische Lage der Messpunkte der Elektroakupunktur”, Uelsen, 1976; and Niboyet, E., “Traite d' Acupuncture”, Paris 1974).
The ratio of the skin resistance in a tested point, related to an organ, to the skin resistance in one of the energy reference points indicates whether the organ is healthy or affected. Generally, that ratio should be from 0.75 to 1.25 for a healthy organ and is outside that range for an affected one. As a reference point, it is generally preferred to choose J18 for comparison with tested points in the front surface of the body and T14 for comparison with tested points in the rear surface of the body.
In one diagnostic method, the electrical resistance of 12 BAPs on each side of the body (i.e., 24 points total) is measured. The average resistance for all of these 24 points is then plotted as a horizontal line, referred to as the “isoelectric” line. Using similar data obtained from a group of healthy individuals, an upper and lower limit is plotted above and below each isoelectric line, thus defining a “normal corridor”. The isoelectric line and the normal corridor thus constitute an average diagram, upon which individual data may be inserted and compared.
In order to diagnose the situation of an individual, the electrical resistance of the skin at each of the 24 BAPs is measured and converted into electric current intensity by applying Ohm's law. Then, if the resulting intensity values cross the upper borderline of the diagram which represents the said normal corridor, this indicates that an acute process is going on in the organ. If the resulting intensity values cross the lower borderline of the diagram which represents the said normal corridor, this indicates that a chronic process is present.
Results obtained by this method may then be used to direct the acupuncturist or other practitioner in planning the appropriate treatment. The way of tracing an isoelectric line and a normal corridor is described in the following publications: Nakatani, Y., Yamashyta, K., “Ryodoraku Acupuncture”. Tokyo, 1977; and Hyodo, M., “Ryodoraku Treatment, Osaka, 1975”.
A major problem associated with the diagnostic method described above is that the electrical resistance values obtained may be influenced by many factors unrelated to the presence of a pathologic condition, for example, cigarette smoke inhalation, consumption of beverages containing alcohol or caffeine, exercise, and so on. Such factors may therefore lead to false diagnostic conclusions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a diagnostic method, based on the measurement of electrical resistance at the skin surface at BAPs, that overcomes the problem of misleading or unreliable results due to factors unrelated to pathological processes.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.